Well okay. But what other bands did he play in? Were people clamoring to get him in their band? What I meant by the Moon comparison is that Copeland's playing seemed perfectly suited for that band. His feel/influences seemed to really give that group their specific sound, much like Moon. But I couldn't imagine Moon playing with another group and I haven't heard a band that would utilize Copeland's strengths with what he did with the Police - those reggae-inspired grooves, etc.

Stew hasn't played with a ton of groups but did play with Oysterhead and Animal Logic. I wasn't crazy about Animal Logic but I loved Oysterhead which he said in a recent interview he wants to do again after the Police reunion tour. He also worked with Stan Ridgeway (wall of voodoo) for the Rumblefish soundtrack and on one of the MD fests he played with a band called Gizmo which sounded great to me,

I think he could be good in lots of bands but maybe preferred all the soundtrack composing work after being in the Police, maybe because he had more control over the project that way.

Stewart was born in Alexandria, Virginia, but his family relocated to the middle east particularly Beirut when he was a few months old. So, his accent is a combination of his American roots, his fluent arabic and years of touring with british musicians, haha

__________________"it takes two to tango, and three to reggae." - Stewart Copeland

I have been watching the "Synchronicity" tour on my mp3 player. One jam I really like is "One world is enough (for all of us)". It convinced me to get a low pitched set of octabans. I love the accents and fills in this tune.

Then... Synchronicity tour:
Stewart and the guys played IMO, just what needed to be played. It was pretty straight forward and they grooved where they needed. I did not like the remake of "Don't stand so close to me" as much as the original version. To me, it lost impact. One of the highlights was "One world (not three)" and the jam they did.

Now: latest tour:
The dvd performance and extra features indicate to me they were vying for more personal space on each tune. It seems like extra things were stuck in the drum parts where they weren't needed. Sting, of course had to over-stylize the vocals to what was perfect the first time around. While I like this dvd, I prefer the original performances, without the added gloss. At some points, Sting was almost a lilting, Vegas lounge-lizard version of earlier efforts.

Placement of the kick drum where the snare hit would normally be is a wonderful thing to play and you almost have to unlearn everything to do it.

His inventiveness is what I appreciate about him and the ability to flit from reggae to rock within the gap of a flam. I have an instruction DVD on Copeland but rather annoyingly the tutor is left-handed, which is rather useless to a RHer like me. Now clearly if you are LHed than you are the lucky ones for a change.

The basic groove is 8th on the hi-hat, but Copeland throws in lots of 16ths, and then starts throwing in some poly rhythms and various assorted syncopations on the hi-hats as drum fills.

2nd great example is the original version of "Don't Stand So Close to Me" (there is a 2nd version the Police put out a few years later with a drum machine). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXU8kCrRHJY
Copelands dynamics on the hi-hat are what drive the verses.

Have you guys ever noticed that Copeland uses a kind of unique traditional grip?

He uses - most of the time - his middle finger under the stick, so having three - and not two fingers - as the supporting ones.
The only finger on top of the stick is the index finger.

Incredibly I just noticed this today as I'm now paying more attention to traditional grip players cause I started practicing traditional grip a few moths ago after 24 years playing exclusively matched.

And curiously, two days ago I moved my middle finger to the bottom of the stick just to try new things and experiment.
And I liked the way it feels.

:)

Well, I'll keep practicing the classic traditional grip, but the way Copeland uses it is interesting. And as I suddenly liked the way it felt I think I'll try to develop that too.

The basic groove is 8th on the hi-hat, but Copeland throws in lots of 16ths, and then starts throwing in some poly rhythms and various assorted syncopations on the hi-hats as drum fills.

2nd great example is the original version of "Don't Stand So Close to Me" (there is a 2nd version the Police put out a few years later with a drum machine). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXU8kCrRHJY
Copelands dynamics on the hi-hat are what drive the verses.

Another very good, clear example of his hi-hat work:

1. "Darkness," from Ghost in the Machine: the whole song is basically Stewart playing the hi-hat with accents on the bass drum, feathered.

2. The opening to Peter Gabriel's "Red Rain," from So: Stewart plays the hi-hat intro for this song (and plays the full session for "Big Time").

Boy, did he hit hard. I would love to have a fraction of his groove. He always was a very consistent player. My old tutor would critique the fact that he would speed up sections of a song (chorus), but I wonder whether he did that on purpose.

Boy, did he hit hard. I would love to have a fraction of his groove. He always was a very consistent player. My old tutor would critique the fact that he would speed up sections of a song (chorus), but I wonder whether he did that on purpose.

The question is ... does the music still sound great in the sped up parts? I say YES. When a band can rock out that hard and with so much pizazz, I couldn't care less about the details. Maybe he does it on purpose, but without realising it - going for major intensity ... and achieving it.

I really don't care about how he speeds up. In fact, there's some tunes in the The Police Live album that have that kind of "lack of time". But, I think about Copeland most of an extremely intuitive-tasty player. I mean, if he doesn't speed up, it wouldn't be Stewart Copeland. John Bonham is another drummer that sped up in a lot of song, but how I would point that out in tunes like "trampled under foot", for instance. It works.

I really don't care about how he speeds up. In fact, there's some tunes in the The Police Live album that have that kind of "lack of time". But, I think about Copeland most of an extremely intuitive-tasty player. I mean, if he doesn't speed up, it wouldn't be Stewart Copeland. John Bonham is another drummer that sped up in a lot of song, but how I would point that out in tunes like "trampled under foot", for instance. It works.

/agree. It wasn't always on purpose, which he has admitted. But that doesn't mean it sounds wrong either. In many cases, it's what made the song get up and move. A really great example of this can be found on the Oysterhead song Army's On Ecstasy. Besides, there tends to be a different view on this stuff today because everyone is so used to hearing gridded music. Back then, this was normal and nobody cared.

Boy, did he hit hard. I would love to have a fraction of his groove. He always was a very consistent player. My old tutor would critique the fact that he would speed up sections of a song (chorus), but I wonder whether he did that on purpose.

Very inspiring.

Davo

Good points!
He definitely speed up alot live but...the man cracked those backbeats (T-grip) like no other!

I really don't care about how he speeds up. In fact, there's some tunes in the The Police Live album that have that kind of "lack of time". But, I think about Copeland most of an extremely intuitive-tasty player. I mean, if he doesn't speed up, it wouldn't be Stewart Copeland. John Bonham is another drummer that sped up in a lot of song, but how I would point that out in tunes like "trampled under foot", for instance. It works.

The old drummers had their own sound and style.

Now every drummer sounds the same.
All these flashy licks lol.

I could tell Bonham or Bruford or Giles or Cobham by their feel and tone,not their chops.

Todays scene seems so competititive.

The fastest drummer,who can play the most grips,who can out do each other instead of focussing on the music.

I 'd love to learn all that tech stuff but my heart is in't in to it.

I see a dvd of a bloke playing some flashy stuff and the song is usually really cheesy fusion stuff with really 80s sounds lol and that's the only time you can use those flashy techniques,with really cheesy music.

The soul of music has dimished somewhat for the purpose of compettitiveness.

My feelings.

You can hate me.

I hate myself more so fire away.

Just prefer something like Cobhams Spectrum with soul than todays shyte with cheesy cheesy tone and songs.

I REALLY enjoy Stuart's playing in the early 80's with the Police, but the two performance videos posted of him here are horrible. He is probably focusing a lot more on composing nowadays, but still, if you're going to play something like a solo on Letterman, at least get in the woodshed and work your chops up a bit. Unfortunately, his ego seems to have increased as much as his chops have decreased. As far as drumming goes, he's now and overly-arrogant has-been.